The storm still raged around them, slapping the craft this way and that.
'I never thought I'd die like this,' said Ruby Journey. 'Just sitting helplessly, waiting for the end. I deserved a warrior's death. A chance to die fighting, on my feet, and take some of my enemies with me.'
'We're not dead yet,' said Jack Random. 'Never give up hope, Ruby. It's all that keeps us going.'
'I always loved you, Jack. Always will. I might not be very good at showing it, but…'
'It's all right. I know. Love you too, Ruby. If we get out of this alive, you want to take another stab at living together?'
'Hell, no. I don't love you that much.'
They laughed quietly together.
'At least they've stopped shooting,' said Random. 'Either the storm's thrown us out of range, or they must think we're all dead.'
'Let us be thankful for small mercies,' said Ruby. 'You know, that attack was no accident. Someone down there knew we were coming.'
'Yes. We'll have to ask a few pointed questions about that later. Even if it's only through a spirit board.'
'I won't die,' said Ruby. 'I'm not ready to die yet. There's still so much I meant to do.'
'I suppose everyone feels like that. I'm… more or less content. I've achieved more than I ever expected to. And I got to meet you, eventually. I'll settle for that.'
'You always were willing to settle for too little, Jack.'
They laughed again, and then the breath was slammed from their bodies as the landing computers cut in and hauled back on the engines, fighting to turn the last of the descent into a landing. The pinnace's speed fell drastically, the hull groaned and flexed, and lights flickered on and off, the scream of the straining engines louder than the storms outside. Random and Ruby held each other tightly, their heads buried in each other's shoulders. And then the pinnace struck a towering black mountain a glancing blow in passing, and the whole right side of the craft bulged inward. The pinnace struck one obstacle after another on its way down, its heavily armored hull absorbing most of the blows, but Random and Ruby took a lot of the impact too. Fires broke out in the back of the pinnace, and smoke drifted down the cabin, thick and black and choking. And then the ship finally hit the ground.
The impact seemed to go on forever. The pinnace skidded across an unyielding, unforgiving surface in a sea of sparks and flames, slowing only gradually, until finally the nose slammed into a dark cliff face, and the pinnace came to a final halt. The engines were cut off automatically, and for long moments there was only the roaring of the gale-force winds as they blew out the flames and rocked the broken-open wreck of the pinnace back and forth.
Jack Random's first awareness was of being rocked pleasantly to and fro like an infant in its cradle. It felt wonderfully comfortable, and all he wanted was to lie there and enjoy it, but part of him knew he couldn't do that. Reluctantly he opened his eyes, and was greeted with the hellish red glow of emergency lighting. At least the damn alarm sirens had shut up at last. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, but he could hear fires burning at the back of the craft. Not a good sign. He could taste blood in his mouth. He tried to move his arms, and sharp pains erupted in his sides. Several careful movements later, he was satisfied he'd broken most of his ribs, and there was enough blood seeping into his mouth that he had to keep spitting it out. Definitely not a good sign. He gritted his teeth against the pain and tried to stand up, but the crash had compacted the barricades around him and Ruby so tightly that there was no room to move. Ruby's eyes were still closed, and she was breathing harshly through her mouth.
'Ruby! Wake up, dammit! I can't do this on my own!'
'Stop shouting,' Ruby mumbled without opening her eyes. 'I've got a headache.'
She lifted her head slowly, and Random winced as her face came into the light. There was a deep and nasty wound on her forehead, blood streaming down the side of her face. But when she opened her eyes, they were clear and rational.
'Congratulations,' said Random. 'We survived the landing. Unfortunately, the ship is on fire. We have to get out of here, fast.'
'So what's stopping us?' said Ruby.
'We're stuck in our cocoon, and I can't find enough leverage to free us. Any suggestions?'
'Our feet are still on the deck. If we can't push back, push up.'
So they braced themselves against each other, refusing to cry out at the pain of their various injuries, and forced themselves to their feet. After that it was a simple but painful task to free themselves from the cocoon that had saved their lives. Leaning heavily on each other, they headed for the single airlock. Neither of them were particularly steady on their feet. Jack's vision wasn't as clear as he would have liked, and his head ached abominably. He just hoped he didn't have a concussion. Ruby was favoring one leg, and one of her eyeballs was red with leaking blood inside. Really not a good sign. Jack decided he'd think about all that later. First get out of the damned pinnace. He hit the airlock controls, and nothing happened. He hit them again, as hard as he could in his weakened state, but the airlock inner door remained stubbornly shut.
'What's taking so long?' said Ruby petulantly. 'I want to lie down. Get some sleep.'
'In a while,' said Random. 'Right now, try talking to this door. It won't listen to me.'
'Airlock's linked to the main controls. And they were wrecked in the landing.'
'Can we repair them?'
'Maybe,' said Ruby, frowning as she tried to concentrate. 'If you're good at jigsaws. Anyway, don't be in such a hurry to leave. From what I remember of the files, surface conditions are atrocious. It's cold, high background radiation, and the wind never stops blowing. Let's just sit here and wait to be rescued. I'm tired.'
'I'm afraid we can't do that, Ruby. There's a fire in the hold and it's coming this way. And the engines—'
'Could blow any time. Yeah. I remember. Damn. You're just full of good news, aren't you? All right, there should be manual controls for the door, top and bottom. Toss you for which of us has to bend over.'
In the end, Jack nearly passed out from the pain when he tried to bend down, so Ruby had to do it, cursing and complaining all the way down. They cracked the inner airlock door open inch by inch, stumbled into the lock, and hit the explosive bolts that blew the outer door open. Random put his head out cautiously, and winced as the bitter night wind hit his exposed face. It felt like razors. He pulled his head quickly back in.
'Nasty.'
'Told you,' said Ruby. 'The locals wear protective armor when they have to go out, which is as rarely as they can get away with.'
'We don't have the time to improvise any armor. We need to put some distance and protection between us and this ship in case she blows. I'm pretty sure I saw a cliff face within walking distance, and what might have been caves.'
'You'd better be right about this, Random. Okay, you lead, I'll follow.'
They lurched out into the freezing dark, and the wind sent them staggering sideways for a moment before they could get their footing. The cold cut into them like a knife, and there was something abrasive in the wind that seared their exposed skin raw. They huddled together and staggered away from their crashed ship toward the great dark cliff face in the distance.
Their progress was maddeningly slow. Strength and determination could do only so much in the face of broken bones and crippling pain. They stumbled on, supporting each other. It wasn't full dark yet, but there was only a small moon, dropping a sickly blue light over the nightmare landscape. They were in a valley, surrounded on all sides by huge, eerie shapes that rose up unexpectedly out of the gloom. There was no sign of anything living. The wind howled like something dying. The cliff face didn't seem to be getting any closer.
'What are our chances of rescue?' said Ruby after a while.
'Bad,' said Random. 'The storm and the attack threw us way off course. The last location I had put us about two miles from the main city, Vidar. No other settlements in walking distance. And after a crash like ours, they might not bother with any rescue. They wouldn't come this far just to identify a few bodies. Even if two of them were rather famous bodies.'
'So,' said Ruby, 'first we get to the cliff face. Then we climb the cliff face till we find a cave. Then we sit and heal. And then we get to walk two miles through this shit to the nearest civilization. Wonderful. Assuming we get through all this alive, I am going to find whoever's idea it was to send us here, rip out his spleen, and make him eat it, one bite at a time.'
'You must be feeling better if you can talk that much. Let's speed up the pace.'
